Within the context of the PEV – Ethiopia project, ECES conducted a Leadership and Conflict Management Skills for Electoral Stakeholders (LEAD) Training of Trainers in Bishoftu, Ethiopia on January 25 – 29. The objective was to build a pool of local LEAD trainers.
27 Participants were selected from different Civil Society Organisations, such as the Initiative for Peace & Development, Gogaboro Development Association, Timran, Development for All and other CSOs working to effect change within their respective regions and communities.
The LEAD programme was structured around a Five-Day Training of Trainers course to get certified. The course included sessions on the applications of leadership skills to electoral processes, the electoral cycle and its potential weaknesses, Causes and types of Electoral conflicts and violence, leading principles behind conflict management, the application of leadership skills in the prevention of electoral crises, Individual and organisational leadership and Mediation and conflict prevention and the core values of leadership, tolerance and development.
Bringing together these organisations that work towards inclusiveness, tolerance and peace at the grassroots, regional and national level and applying this work into the electoral cycle, yields a meaningful contribution towards electoral conflict and violence prevention.